The present invention relates to a display module set and a washing device comprising the display module set and, particularly, to a light emitting diode display module set and the washing device using the module set.
Light emitting diode display module sets are widely applied in various washing devices (such as, washing machines, dishwashers and so on) to display a current operation status of a respective washing device so as to facilitate users' operations.
The structure of a currently available light emitting diode display module set is shown in FIG. 1, in which the display module set is covered with a layer of a thin film; on the thin film are provided letters or patterns for displaying different information. The portions corresponding to the letters or patterns are of a transparent design and the rest portions are of an opaque design. Beneath the thin film a light conductive panel is provided. The thin film and the light conductive panel are bonded together by way of adhesion. The whole light conductive panel is made of a transparent material, whereon a plurality of light conductive columns are arranged corresponding to the information to be displayed. All the light conductive columns are substantially of the same height. On both sides of the light conductive panel clamping means are arranged respectively; beneath the light conductive panel is arranged a bracket, and the bracket is made of an opaque material; the clamping means on both sides of the light conductive panel are directly clamped at the two sides of the bracket. On the bracket are arranged a plurality of grids corresponding to said plurality of light conductive columns, so as to block the light rays passing through adjacent light conductive columns. During assembly said light conductive columns are housed correspondingly in said grids. A piece of printed circuit board is beneath the bracket, on which circuit board are laid out light emitting diodes corresponding to the information to be displayed and other electronic elements and circuits. In addition, grooves are provided, so as to form the complete display module set by cooperating with the clamping means on the bracket.
The light emitting diode display module set is mounted on the control panel of a washing device, and at the same time, power switch buttons and a program knob for selecting different washing programs are also provided on the control panel.
In the case of a washing machine to be set in operation, a user places clothes to be washed into the washing machine, selects a corresponding washing program by rotating a program knob or by other means provided, and then switches on the power supply. Then, the power supply is connected, and the corresponding light emitting diodes in the display module set are lit up, light rays are displayed by passing through the light conductive columns and transmitting through the corresponding portions of the thin film, so as to display the current operating status of the washing machine to the user. In the case of a dishwasher, the same sequence of operations may occur after a user has placed crockery and the like to be cleaned into the dishwasher.
However, there is a problem in such a display module set, that is, corresponding to the displayed information, a complete display of different information needs different numbers of light emitting diodes, for example, time information is usually of a seven-segment numeric type, so one digit of a number normally needs seven light emitting diodes, while other information, such as temperature or rotating speed, needs only one light emitting diode for its implementation, therefore, the light emitting diodes for displaying time information are arranged relatively compactly, while the light emitting diodes for displaying other information are arranged relatively loosely; since all light conductive columns are substantially identical in height, the brightness of the light emitting diode display module set may higher in the region for displaying time information than that in the region for displaying other information, causing poor readability of the displayed information.
Known solutions include: Controlling the brightness of light emitting diodes by changing the control circuit of the light emitting diodes, that is, controlling the light emitting diodes for displaying time information by one control circuit, and controlling the light emitting diodes for displaying other information by other control circuits, which will obviously make the control circuits complicated. Another solution is to control the brightness of light emitting diode display module set by changing the transparence in the transparent regions of the film covered on the outmost layer of the display module set, so as to make the brightness in the region for displaying time substantially identical with that in the region for displaying other information, but this method is difficult to implement during practical mass production and fabrication, and will lead to an increase in production costs.